Furnace structure



Oct. 27, 1936. 1 E. MaCDONALD .2,058,810

FURNACE STRUCTURE Filed April 13, 1956 K Patented ct. 27, 1936 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE FURNACE STRUCTURE v James E. MacDonald,v Pittsburgh, Pa.

Application lApril 13, 1936, Serialv No. 74,060, 4 claims. (C11. 263-46) My invention relates to furnace structures and more specifically to certain of the brickwork thereof, including more especially that part of the brickwork which is supported upon the skew back channels commonly found in various types of furnaces such. as open hearth furnaces, heating furnaces etc.

Furnace arches are commonly supported upon lskew-back channels, through the medium of skew bricks which are interposed between the ends of the arch and the said channels. The channels frequently become so warped and distorted that there is such dislocation or even dislodgment of the skew bricks that the arches fall into the furnace. Also at times the lower iianges of the channels will be burned away, especially at points above the charging door, when the bricks of the door arch are knocked loose by the charging apparatus. In such case, the skew bricks will b-e no longer properly supported and will fall into the furnace along with the arch.

One object of my invention is to provide a brick structure of such form that the skew bricks will have interlocking relation with one another in such a manner that some of the bricks will be supported by other bricks in case of failure of portions of the skew back channel or the like.

Another object of my invention is to provide skew bricks of such form at the ends of arch sections that although the skew bricks have interlocking relation, the said bricks can have movement relative to one another without releasing the arch bricks and without breaking the interlocking relation between the skew bricks.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view through an open hearth furnace of the tilting type; Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of a portion of the furnace of Fig. l; Fig. 3 is an enlarged View of one of the skew bricks and its associated channel, and Fig. 4 is a face View, partially in section, of the structure of Fig. 3.

While the invention is herein shown as applied to tilting furnaces, it will be understood that it is equally applicable to various other types of furnaces.

The furnace is mounted upon a cradle or rocker 5 that -is supported on suitable rollers I and comprises the usual side and end walls. A charging opening 8 is provided in the front wall of the furnace and a pouring spout or discharge opening 9 in the rear wall thereof. These openings may be of any suitable form. A brick arch II of the usual formis provided at the charging door opening.

The brickwork of the furnace is supported upon a suitable metal` frame or base I2 and the side walls'are held in place by buckstays I3 which are secured to the base members I2 and are con-l nected at their upper ends by binders or cross bars I4. Skew back channels I5 are secured to the buckstays I3 and serve to support skew bricks I6 in somewhat the usual manner, although in the present instance the skew bricks are of a particular form, as will be hereinafter explained. Arch bricks are arranged in rows in any wellknown manner with the ends of he arch sections tting against the skew bricks I6.

The skew bricks I6 are each provided in one side with a circular recess I8 and on its opposite side with a circular boss I9, the boss I9 of one brick fitting into the circular recess of an adjacent brick. As shown more clearly in Figs. 3 20 and 4, the bosses I9 are of somewhat shorter diameter than the recesses I3, so that while the bricks have such interlocking relation that some of them will be held against falling into the furnace by the other bricks, they can, nevertheless, shift or turn relative to one another under unequal temperatures to which various parts of the brickwork are subjected. While the recesses I8 and the bosses I9 are of circular form so that the bricks I6 can have some pivotal movement relative to one another, through warping or bending of the skew back channels or by reason of uneven expansion and contraction, through non-uniform changes in temperatures, it will be understood that such interlocking elements need not necessarily be of circular contour to permit of slight relative turning or pivotal movement.

Those portions of the side wall below the skew bricks are, of course, subjected to considerable erosive action and frequently the bricks in the 40 upper portions of the side walls become knocked loose. In any event, if the roof arches can have continued support notwithstanding the weakened or broken condition of the side walls, the furnace can be kept in use for a longer period of time. Even if considerable portion of the bottom flanges of the skew back channels I5 become burned away, those skew bricks above the burned-out portions of the flange will be maintained in place by reason of their interlocking relation with the other skew bricks, thus affording continued support for the roof arch.

The clearance and provision for pivotal move ment as between the recesses I8 and the bosses I9 clearly reduce danger of shearing off the bosses,

such as would occur if there were close, rigid fitting engagement between the interlocking surfaces I8 and I9.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with a furnace having a roof and a skew back member, of a row of skew bricks, interposed between the roof and the said member, the said bricks having offsets formed on their opposed faces and arranged in interlocking relation, to restrict relative movement of the bricks in directions transversely of said skew back member, the offsets being in the form of cooperating bosses and recesses which have limited clearance in directions transversely of the said member.

2. The combination with a furnace having a roof and a skew back member, of a row of skew bricks, interposed between the roof and the said member, the said bricks having offsets formed on their opposed faces and arranged in interlocking relation, to restrict relative movement of the bricks in directions transversely of said skew back member, the offsets being located at approximately the mid points of said surfaces and being of circular contour to permit relative pivotal movement of the bricks in planes transverse to the skew back member.

3. The combination with a furnace having a roof and a skew back member, of a row of skew bricks, interposed between the roof and the said member, the said bricks having offsets formed on their opposed faces and arranged in inter locking relation, to restrict relative movement of the bricks in directions transversely of said skew back member, the offsets being located at approximately the mid points of said surfaces and being of circular contour to permit relative pivotal movement of the bricks in planes transverse to the skew back member and having limited lateral clearance.

4. The combination with a furnace having side walls and a roof comprising arch bricks, of skew back members at the ends of the arch, rows o1 skew bricks supported by said members and having supporting engagement with the ends of the arch, and interlocking elements positioned approximately at the planes between adjacent skew bricks, for restricting relative movement of the bricks in directions transversely of the skew back members and of a form to permit relative pivotal movement of the bricks in planes transverse to the skew back members.

JAMES E. MACDONALD. 

